


Five Steps to Sleep Compatibility

by theladyscribe



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: IKEA Furniture, M/M, Mention of pegging, Montreal Canadiens, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6610936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladyscribe/pseuds/theladyscribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times Alex and Brendan had to share a bed, and one time they wanted to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Steps to Sleep Compatibility

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sinsense](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinsense/gifts).



> Many thanks to hazel_3017 for the beta.

1.

"Rookies share," Prusty tells Alex on his first roadie with the Habs. "That's just how it is."

This morning, that seemed like it was just a ploy to get Alex's yogurt cup on the plane. Now, standing in his and Brendan's hotel room, which features _one bed_ , he thinks it might have been a warning.

"This is bullshit," Brendan says from behind him.

Alex agrees; this is definitely bullshit. He's resigned himself to sharing a room with his stupid crush on road trips the entire season, but sharing a bed? This is a new level of awful.

Brendan drops his bags on the floor and heads for the telephone. "I'm gonna call downstairs, see if we can get this changed."

"Wait," Alex says. "You know we've been set up."

"So what? I'm not doing this."

Alex is pretty sure that two players sharing a single bed is against the CBA, but he's not going to point that out, to Brendan or to anyone else on the team. He's heard about the fine system and the kangaroo courts, and he definitely doesn't want to set the record for fastest fine assessed in Canadiens history.

"Yes you are," Alex finds himself saying, even though he also thinks this is bullshit. "They'll just make it worse for us if we complain."

"Well, I sleep naked," Brendan announces, as if that's going to convince Alex to join with him to take on Pricey and PK and everyone else who colluded to make sure they got stuck with a single.

"That's all right," Alex says, trying to keep his voice even. "So do I."

Brendan narrows his eyes. "You do not."

"You don't either, I bet."

"Fine." Brendan huffs. "I'm not apologizing if I kick you, though."

 

2.

"This doesn't look right," Alex says.

The chair has four legs in the picture, but the one in front of them only has three. Brendan has the fourth in his hand, practicing his slap shot.

"Well, I followed the directions," Brendan insists, pausing in his slap shot practice to gesture vaguely at the empty box.

"Where are they? Let me see them."

Brendan hands him the directions, and Alex gets to work.

Five hours later, the chair has four legs, it's almost three AM, and both Alex and Brendan are half asleep.

"Thank fuck," Brendan says, collapsing in the chair. He thumbs at his phone. "Hey, did you know we're under a blizzard watch?"

Alex looks at his own phone for the first time since he started working on the stupid chair. Anna has blown it up with messages to call her ASAP because the roads are covered. " _Shit_."

"You can stay the night if you want," Brendan says with a sunny smile. "It'll be like a sleepover."

"Thanks." Alex rolls his eyes at Brendan. He texts Anna back to let her know that he's fine and he'll be at Brendan's for the night. "Where's your guest room again?"

"Over there," Brendan answers, waving down the hall. "But there isn't a bed in it yet."

Alex rubs at his face. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there _is_ a bed, but it hasn't been assembled yet."

"And you don't have a couch yet either."

"I'm cool with sharing if you are?" Brendan says, turning it into a question.

Alex considers his options. Even if he makes it home alive, Anna might murder him for attempting to drive in whiteout conditions. He knows from experience that Brendan isn't the worst bed partner he's ever had, and the asshat doesn't _actually_ sleep in the nude.

"Okay."

Alex regrets his decision immediately. Brendan didn't tell him that his bed is a double, barely big enough for one hockey player, let alone two. It's a tight fit, to say the least, and he does his best to keep to one side.

"Dude," Brendan murmurs long after Alex had assumed he was asleep. "Chill. I don't care if you starfish."

"Hmph," Alex mutters back, but he tries to relax, breathing deeply until he finally drifts to sleep.

 

3.

When Brendan answers the door, Alex pushes his way in. "I'm staying in here tonight."

"Oh no, you're not!" Brendan says. "I beat you and Prusty at cards, I won the single fair and square. Not my fault they overbooked the hotel and had to give half the team doubles."

"I don't care," Alex says. "I'll buy you a year's supply of your stupid ketchup chips. Just let me stay in here."

Brendan scowls at him. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to stay in here? I've got a single."

"Believe me," Alex says lowly, "if you'd seen what I've seen, you wouldn't care about that either."

"What did you see?"

Alex puts his head in his hands. "Maripier showed up to surprise Prusty. It's some sort of anniversary or something for them." He shudders. "I thought she'd get her own room, but the hotel must be full or something, because they were in our room."

He glances up at Brendan. He still looks suspicious, but there's a mixture of horror and curiosity starting to spread over his face.

"Did you _walk in_ on them?" Brendan gasps.

Alex nods, feeling ill. He closes his eyes again, but he can still see the tableau of Prusty's ass in the air and Maripier bent over him, the unmistakable sight of a strap-on burned on his retinas. "I didn't even know you could bring dildos on a plane."

 

4.

Alex loves everyone in this bar, and that's probably his signal to head home for the night. Which is a great plan, except he can't seem to walk properly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude, what do you think you're doing?" Brendan tucks his shoulder underneath Alex's, his hands keeping Alex steady.

"I'm going home," Alex tells him, or tells his hair.

"Not like this, you aren't," Brendan says. "Your sister will murder all of us. You're coming with me."

Alex tries to shake his head, but thinks better of it when the room starts spinning. "Okay," he sighs, still talking to Brendan's hair.

He doesn't remember much of the cab ride back to Brendan's or getting ready for bed or really anything when he wakes up, but when Alex opens his eyes, Brendan is almost nose to nose with him. Brendan is still asleep, drooling a little with his mouth open.

Alex reaches out to close Brendan's mouth, but snatches his hand away when Brendan twitches and rolls over. Alex takes a deep breath and sits up carefully, praying that his stomach will be calm enough that he can make it to the bathroom without puking.

He makes it through his morning routine without being sick and comes back into the bedroom. He should get dressed and head for home, or drink a couple glasses of water and eat some breakfast, but the bed looks so inviting. It'd be okay to sleep for another couple hours, right?

He's about to climb back in bed when Brendan rolls over again and opens his eyes. "You feeling okay?" Brendan asks, squinting up at him. "Not sick or anything?"

"Yeah," Alex says. He takes a step back, putting distance between himself and the desire to climb back in bed with Brendan, to curl up and hold him close. "I'm fine. Gonna go get some coffee and then head home I guess. You want me to bring back something?"

Brendan has a weird look on his face, but that could just be his regular morning face. "I'm good, thanks," he says after an extended moment. "Lock the door on your way out." Brendan yawns and pulls the covers over his head.

Alex hesitates for half a second longer and then forces himself to head out the door.

 

5.

Alex catches Brendan as he's lacing up his dress shoes. "Would it be okay if I crashed with you tonight? Anna's got a big test she's studying for and I don't want to bother her."

Brendan looks up at him. He looks withdrawn, his face tight where he's usually relaxed, but then they all look withdrawn, even PK. It's been a rocky season, from the early high of the nine-game win streak to the latest in a series of devastating losses that have them knocked out of any hope for playoff contention.

"Yeah," Brendan says as he stands. "We can drink beer and watch a movie."

"Sounds good to me."

When they get to his apartment, Brendan herds Alex into his bedroom. "Living room's a mess, got my laundry on the couch, so bedroom TV tonight."

Alex rolls his eyes. Brendan always has laundry piled on his couch; Alex thinks the only time he's spent in the living room was when he helped Brendan put together that stupid IKEA chair he never even uses.

Brendan picks a mindless comedy on Netflix, and the two of them settle in. They don't talk much, but Alex finds himself listing toward Brendan the longer the movie goes. By the time it ends, they're essentially cuddling, Brendan's head on Alex's shoulder and Alex's head resting on Brendan's.

"I should go," Alex says as the credits start to roll. He starts to get up, but Brendan stops him.

"You could stay. If you want."

Alex looks down at where their hands are side-by-side. "You mean it?"

Brendan deliberately puts his hand over Alex's. "Yeah."

Alex looks back up at Brendan. He's biting his lip, his stupid nervous tic that always leaves him with chapped lips. "Okay," Alex says softly. "I'll stay."


End file.
